Chapter 108: The Red Fox (1)
I let out a sigh. "Ugh... This feels like I'm completely isolated."
Noona handed me a cup of coffee. "You have no choice. Drink this and rest a bit."
I had been kicked out of the cafe and came home. I took the coffee from Noona and pouted.
The reason was that when customers came to the cafe and saw me, their stay time extended.
They weren't just looking at the animals; many people started hanging around me, killing time.
If I weren't there, it would be normal, but with me, more people stayed. That's why I was kicked out now.
The line for entry was long, people were chatting, the cafe felt cramped. What could I do?
Sigh. What to do?
With no tasks, like a jobless person, I slumped onto the sofa and fiddled with the remote.
If So-eun were here, it wouldn't be boring, but she was riding Bboni at the cafe, so I couldn't call her.
She was a bit unusual for this era, liking playing more than watching children's animations like other kids.
Speaking of which, lately Cheongho has been jealous of Bboni a lot?
Muhammad, who confirmed that So-eun likes riding Bboni, kindly brought a saddle from somewhere. Thanks to that, So-eun rides Bboni more than Cheongho.
Of course, Cheongho, who always carried So-eun, was loitering near Bboni, trying to get So-eun on his back somehow. Like lifting his butt or something. Though it only succeeds about once every five times...
Anyway, while thinking idly like this, I pressed the remote to change TV channels.
I passed channels that replay entertainment shows, home shopping, movie channels, but nothing worth watching.
It was probably because it was a weekday, just after lunch.
Eventually, after turning around, the channel stopped at a news channel.
"Suspicion that the third-generation owner of a popular group has committed a serious crime has been revealed to be true..."
"News these days only shows that kind of thing."
Watching the news, I shook my head. But then I wondered why I was watching this.
Even as a kid, I didn't understand why my parents were watching the news.
Maybe because only negative news comes out?
I pondered if the news atmosphere had changed a lot from when I was young. Back then, there were quite a few positive parts.
As if reading my mind, the news tone changed. More precisely, after switching from national news to Busan regional news.
"One week has passed since a wild red fox was spotted in the mountain located in Haeundae. The individual confirmed to have come from Yeongju, Gyeongsangbuk-do via Gangwon-do is said to have traveled about 400km..."
"Red fox?"
When animal stories came on the news, I naturally became interested.
"...But it seems difficult to capture. They try to use bait to trap it in a cage, but they say it's difficult because cat moms are feeding the fox's food. The Ministry of Environment kindly requests not to feed wild foxes..."
"Cat moms are the problem, as always."
I shook my head at the news content. It was because I had not-so-good memories of cat moms.
Before my superpower awakened, in high school. It was when a big incident happened in the apartment I was living in because of cat moms.
The cat mom who moved into the apartment gathered all the stray cats in the neighborhood, and because of that, apartment residents had to suffer every winter morning to take the cats out of the pet net. Of course, I and my dad were included. I had to help take out the cats every morning.
"Winter break, can't even sleep in late. Taking out the cats. Ah, if I had that power back then."
Shaking my head at the unpleasant memory and deep regret, I turned off the TV and went out to the yard.
In the yard, I immediately went to the flower bed and looked at the status of the crops. Thanks to my superpower, every single one was lush green leaves, sturdy stems, and full of firm fruits.
"Oh, they're ripening nicely. Should I eat them for dinner?"
"Ne!"
"Wow!"
I was muttering to myself when I suddenly heard a reply and jumped in surprise, sitting down.
And I could see the culprit who answered my mutter.
So-eun, sitting regally on Bboni. Seeing her smiling brightly, instead of surprise, curiosity settled in.
The gate was closed, and the door made for animals to come and go wasn't big enough for Bboni to jump over. How did she get here? The gate was closed.
"So-eun, how did you get here?"
"Riding Bboni!"
"Eh... then how did Bboni come?"
"Bboni!"
So-eun gestured towards Bboni in response to my question, and Bboni did a little hop, ran two laps around the yard, and then jumped towards the fence.
"Be careful...!"
I was about to shout 'be careful' when I closed my mouth.
Because the tiny Bboni, less than half the size of the fence, jumped over it lightly. If I attached sound effects to that movement, it would be "pop" or something.
How the heck did she do that?
With my mouth agape at the unbelievable sight, a "thud" sound came from the other side. Then Bboni flew back into the yard. Literally flew in. Even when the creature fell to the ground, there was almost no landing sound.
"...Bboni, want to try again?"
"Ne!"
Bboni started doing the hop again, as if it was nothing special to my words.
I urgently picked up my phone and filmed it, capturing Bboni jumping back and forth over the fence on camera.
I sent the video to Muhammad.
After sending the video, about three minutes later, a reply came.
[Neighbor Muhammad sent 1,000,000,000 won.]
[Photo]
[Bboni great! Upload to Mytube! Bboni fan club, I like videos!]
With a very satisfied smile, Muhammad clapped, and the notification showed that 10 billion won was transferred.
I felt a bit satisfied for nothing and petted the heads of So-eun and Bboni, then put So-eun on Bboni's back again.
"So-eun. Go to mom and tell her to eat watermelon for dinner."
"Ne ne!"
So-eun, who especially liked watermelon, smiled brightly and grabbed Bboni's mane.
And as if that was the signal, Bboni started running and jumped over the fence again. Even carrying about 15kg So-eun, Bboni jumped the fence lightly.
"Hee hee!"
So-eun didn't seem to be shocked, laughing happily.
Yeah, if you like it, it's fine. It didn't look particularly dangerous.
From the way Bboni jumped over the fence, it didn't look dangerous at all. She landed so quietly that there was no sound.
"But somehow, my surrounding animals seem to be turning into monsters... Must be my imagination?"
I tried to escape reality and took a flower scissors from the storage box in the entrance shoe rack. It's a flower scissors, but in reality, it's a pair of scissors used to pick fruits.
"Shall I pick three or four?"
Since I decided to eat watermelon, I thought to pick them in advance, wash them, and put them in the fridge.
Ring ring ring- phone- receive receive receive-
But when I picked two watermelons, the phone in my pocket rang.
[010 - XXXX - XXXX]
"Unknown number?"
I thought about rejecting the call since it was unknown, but to me, who had been picking watermelons with nothing to do after being kicked out of the cafe, it felt like a good entertainment.
"Hello."
"Hello. This is Yeon-su from the National Park Research Institute, in charge of wild animals. Is this Shin Suhwan-nim's phone number?"
"Yes, it's me."
"Ah! Nice to meet you!"
When the person calling for me said it was me, the other person seemed very happy.
Perhaps he had called the wrong number or called somewhere else a few times, he muttered "fortunately" and immediately got to the point.
"I contacted Mr. Shin Suhwan for this reason: it's about the red fox currently appearing in Busan."
"Red fox? The one that appeared in the mountain in Haeundae?"
At the mention of red fox, I recalled the content I saw in the news earlier. The red fox appeared but had trouble capturing due to interference from cat moms, not actual interference.
"Yes. Currently trying to capture in various ways... Honestly, the results are not good."
And because of the story about this red fox, I could infer the purpose of the person from the National Park Research Institute who called me.
"You need my help, right?"
"Ah... yes. With insufficient manpower and difficulties in capture..."
Yeon-su trailed off, as if having nothing to say. After all, as the wild animal handler, it's hard to say much when you can't capture the wild animal yet.
"It would be better to come in person and explain in detail. Would that be okay?"
"Yes! Rather, I wanted to ask for your favor!"
"Then come now."
"...Yes?"
"Come now. You can come to our house. Do you know the location? If not, come to the detached house attached to our cafe. If anyone stops you, tell them I gave permission."
In response to my words, Yeon-su answered vaguely. But perhaps because the matter was urgent, he came quickly.
The researcher who came to the house brought various materials and showed them to me.
The creatures that had been managed and then released into the wild had GPS attached, and the route was beyond imagination. Starting from Yeongju, Gyeongsangbuk-do, passing through Gangwon-do, following the East Sea coast south to Busan.
But there was something more important than that.